Smucker’s Root Beer Magic Shell, reviewed

Root beer floats are one of my favorite hot weather treats. They’re made by pouring root beer over a mug stuffed with vanilla ice cream. The combination of spicy root beer and creamy vanilla ice cream is a match made in heaven. I like the slightly icy “crust” that forms on top of the ice cream just after you add the root beer and find that the the drink manages to get even better as the ice cream melts into the soda. So as a float fan, I felt that I had to give Smucker’s Root Beer Magic Shell a try to see if it could stack up to a real root beer float in terms of flavor.

Magic shell is a type of ice cream coating that hardens almost immediately when it comes in contract with ice cream, much like the chocolate coating on chocolate-dipped ice cream cones. The secret ingredient is coconut oil, which is very sensitive to hot and cold temperatures. The liquid shell coats the ice cream, rather than just pooling in one spot like hot fudge, and gives you a fun experience by allowing you to crack the shell into pieces with the back to a spoon and eat a little in every bite.

This particular coating is root beer flavored and, while it wasn’t quite as delicious as a real root beer float, it did bring those flavors to my scoop of vanilla ice cream. The coating is sweet and spicy, with a noticeably strong root beer flavor that stands out nicely against the ice cream. I liked the textural element of the magic shell, which reminded me of that root beer “crust” that forms on the outside of the ice cream scoops in the real float. It’s not quite as all-purpose as the classic chocolate magic shell, since that works with almost any ice cream flavor, but it goes very well with vanilla and is definitely a fun, tasty flavor to enjoy over the summer.